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Los Pollos Hermanos
Los Pollos Hermanos is a fast-food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken. Operating across the southwestern United States, the English translation of the name is "The Chicken Brothers." Founded by Gustavo Fring and Max Arciniega, the restaurant chain had fourteen locations throughout the southwest and was Gustavo Fring's major business concern. Los Pollos Hermanos is a subsidiary of Madrigal Electromotive, a German conglomerate with an ownership stake in the company. The restaurant also provided money-laundering and logistics for illegal activities. Gus's office Gus Fring has a back office at one of the locations which he uses as an headquarters for both his chicken and meth empires. His laptop received live feeds from the many surveillance cameras positioned at key locations; in the Los Pollos restaurant, the restaurant parking lot, outside the laundromat, in the superlab, on the chicken farm, etc. This allowed Gus to be constantly up-to-date on the goings on in his business. Gustavo owns 14 Los Pollos restaurants in the New Mexico area . The flagship restaurant has had many visitors from employee's of Gus's other business, namely Walter White, The Cousins, and Mike Ehrmantraut. Hank Schrader has also staked out the restaurant to monitor Fring. When Gus wants to talk to one of his employees, he texts them "Pollos" to have them meet at his restaurant or chicken farm. Employees at Los Pollos Hermanos must answer the phone with the restaurant's motto: "Los Pollos Hermanos, where something delicious is always cooking." Los Pollos Hermanos advertises its chicken as "slow-cooked to perfection... one taste, and you'll know." History Founding Following Max's death at the hands of the Juárez Cartel, Gus became sole owner of the business. He used this legitimate business to aid in his shipment and distribution of drugs, specifically crystal methamphetamine. Season 2 Walt's first encounters with Gus As a result of Saul Goodman's connections, Walt is told to wait at the Los Pollos Hermanos flagship restaurant in Albuquerque to have a meeting with a meth distributor, who they are informed is cautious about who he does business with. Walt anxiously scans the faces of the diners at Los Pollos Hermanos, where he and Jesse are scheduled to meet Saul's businessman. Jesse arrives late, high, and agitated. Jesse refers to the situation as "bullshit", annoyed that they don't even know their contact's name. "I'm outta here." Walt stays, hoping the businessman will show . Walt calls Saul, complaining that the businessman never showed up for their meeting. Saul informs Walt that he was in fact there, but for some reason he isn't interested in working with them. Walt demands a second chance, but according to Saul, "with this particular individual, all you get is the one shot." Nevertheless, Walt heads back to Los Pollos Hermanos. He sits in the restaurant, eating and thinking, until it dawns on him that the restaurant's amiable manager is Saul's businessman. The manager feigns ignorance when Walt reveals his suspicions, but Walt persists. Walt says that he understands - he's cautious too - and that he deserves a second chance. The manager says that Walt is not cautious, for his partner was late and high. Walt touts his impeccable product and maintains that he can trust Jesse. "Thirty-eight pounds. Ready to go at a moment's notice," Walt adds. The manager walks away, warning Walt, "You can never trust a drug addict." Later, Walt's cell phone, hidden in his classroom's ceiling, vibrates while his students take an exam. Retrieving it after class he reads the text message, "POLLOS." Walt rushes to the Los Pollos Hermanos, and is surprised to discover a different manager running the restaurant. The manager on duty tells Walt that the man is actually the owner, Gustavo. As Walt leaves, a man stops him and whispers instructions for the meth deal. "One hour," the guy says. "If you miss it, don't ever show your face in here again." On a later evening, Hank and Marie Schrader head to Walt's house for a family dinner: chicken from Los Pollos Hermanos . Season 3 Later at his apartment, Walt receives a one-word text: "POLLOS." Walt visits Los Pollos and meets with Gus. Despite his great respect for Gus, Walt has decided to stop cooking meth. "I am not a criminal," he explains. Gus offers Walt $3 million for three months of work. "I have money," Walt says, declining. "What I don't have is my family." . When The Cousins are in Walt's house sitting on his bed, waiting for him to get out of the shower to assassinate him, one picks up the teddy bear eyeball in Walt's open suitcase, then tosses it back. The other receives a text message: "POLLOS." They then depart for the restaurant, sparing Walt's life . Later, Los Pollos, Walt chides Gus for pretending to collaborate with Jesse to get Walt cooking again, and dismisses Jesse's meth as mediocre. "The chemistry must be respected," Walt declares. Gus apologizes for being "so transparent," and invites Walt to take a drive with him. Gus drives Walt to an industrial laundry facility, where a huge washing machine conceals the entrance to a state-of-the-art superlab . The Cousins at the restaurant As tensions with the cartel mount, the Cousins decide to enter Los Pollos. Gus watches as they sit down without ordering anything. Gus arrives later at Los Pollos and sees the Cousins once more. "They're ba-aack," says an employee, wondering if she should call the police. "They're doing nothing wrong," Gus replies. The Cousins sit brooding in Gus's restaurant for several days. Back at Los Pollos at a later day, Gus, frustrated with the lurking Cousins and realizing that they will wait no longer, approaches them and arranges an offsite meeting: "Sunset." At Los Pollos, Gus takes a call from Juan Bolsa, who contends that the Cousins would never have shot Hank without approval. "Are you accusing me?" Gus asks, adding that he assumes the next meth shipment will be delayed. Bolsa concedes that it will be delayed indefinitely, then vows to learn the truth about the assassination plot from the surviving Cousin . That night, Walt asks Steven Gomez if other assassins could be on the way. "That was their one shot and they blew it," Gomez replies. The men commiserate a few moments, then Gomez's cell rings. He answers and spreads the word that food has arrived: "You like Pollos Hermanos?" Gomez asks Walt. Gus Fring, as part of his image as a philanthropist and DEA booster, decided to bring over chicken to the hospital . Standing outside of Los Pollos, Gus receives a call from Bolsa, who complains that pressure from the U.S. government has brought the Mexican Federales to his doorstep. "I think you're behind all this," says Bolsa, threatening to pay Gus a visit when things calm down. A sudden crash interrupts Bolsa. His bodyguards investigate and are brought down by gunfire. As Bolsa attempts to escape, he is met by a machine-gun-wielding assassin. Gus listens impassively as Bolsa is gunned down, then breaks his cell phone in two and walks back inside the restaurant . Los Pollos commercial thumb|300px|Los Pollos Hermanos commercial and a look at how it ties in with Gus Fring's superlab production process. A Los Pollos Hermanos commercial extols the chain's signature chicken. Back at the lab, Walt and Jesse hand off a batch of blue crystal meth, which ends up at Gus' chicken farm. The meth distribution process continues as Victor supervises workers as they submerge plastic bags of blue meth into specially-marked tubs of fry batter put into Los Pollos refrigerated trucks for shipment across the Southwest . Later, in Gus's office in the restaurant, Mike and Gus examine the gunmen's passports. "It's cartel, all right," says Mike. "Probing for weakness," replies Gus. "What about Pinkman?" Gus asks. "I'm making inquiries," says Mike . Season 4 Mike huddles inside a Los Pollos Hermanos refrigerated truck as it travels down the highway. The truck stops: Mike knows something's up. Mike hunkers down as two gunmen blast the truck with machine guns. When they open the rear doors, Mike shoots them dead and jumps out. He winces as he touches his ear -- a bullet took a chunk out . Later, Mike meets with Gus in his office and explains that Jesse is becoming a liability. Walt may not like it, Mike continues, but something has to be done. Armed with his .38, Walt storms into Los Pollos Hermanos and demands to speak with Gus. The manager insists that Gus isn't there, but Walt doesn't believe her, and pushes his way into his office, only to find it empty. Mike then calls Walt to say that Jesse will be with him for the day, and puts a blase Jesse on the phone. It's true. He's all right. But, Walt will have to handle the cook alone . Mike and Gus rendezvous outside Los Pollos Hermanos. Everything with Jesse went the way Gus planned, Mike reports. "The kid's a hero," he says. The gunman clearly was a plant, and Gus set it all up for Jesse's benefit . The next morning, Hank tells Marie that he's resumed the Gale Boetticher case. Looking through police photographs taken in Gale's apartment, Hank notices a napkin from Los Pollos Hermanos, with some letters and numbers - perhaps a serial or model number for some product - inked at the bottom. Reflecting on Gale's dietary habits, Hank wonders aloud to Marie, "Since when do vegans eat fried chicken?" . Hijacking Los Pollos trucks Reminiscent of Mike's earlier experience, Cartel thugs ambush a Los Pollos Hermanos refrigerated truck. This time they pump it full of exhaust. After the two guards traveling inside the shipment suffocate to death, the thugs enter the trailer -- but take only a single marked container of fry batter . Inside the house Jesse and Mike are waiting outside of, the second meth head, far more belligerent than his cohort, brandishes a shotgun. While trying to talk the tweaker down, Jesse notices the stolen Los Pollos Hermanos batter container. Mike enters the house and distracts the meth head. Jesse bashes him over the head and disarms him. Mike picks up the container lid, which has a message in Spanish written on it. This message is translated as "Ready to talk?" . Hank's investigation Walter, Jr. drives Hank to Los Pollos Hermanos, where Hank chats briefly with Gus, who recognizes him from his charity work at the DEA. Gus replenishes Hank's soda and offers to pay for any future meals at Los Pollos Hermanos. Hank later slips the cup into an evidence bag and stashes it under his seat in the car . Hank later meets with Gomez and ASAC George Merkert at the DEA. He describes Gale and his murder, and hypothesizes that Gale is Heisenberg's former cook. The letters and numbers scribbled on the Los Pollos Hermanos napkin found in Gale's apartment, Hank explains, were the parts number for an industrial air-filtration system that Gale took delivery on. A system, Hank notes, perfect "for the biggest meth lab north of the border." By coincidence, its manufacturer is owned by a German-based conglomerate that also has a stake in Los Pollos Hermanos . Hank theorizes that a vegetarian like Gale wouldn't eat at a chicken restaurant, and further that he'd only go to Los Pollos Hermanos for a meeting, perhaps with Gus. "What do we know about this Gustavo Fring?" asks Hank, questioning Gus's supposed affinity for law enforcement. "Maybe he's our guy." Merkert suggests that Hank is "really reaching." Hank concedes that he thought so too at first. But one thing troubles him, says Hank, pausing for effect as he reveals photographs of a fingerprint on a Los Pollos soda cup and prints from the crime scene. "What are Gustavo Fring's fingerprints doing in Gale Boetticher's apartment?" Hank asks, laying his trump card on the table . Later, Gustavo Fring gazes at the surveillence camera feeds on his laptop before shutting the lid and exiting his office. He then advises one of his employees, saying "This residue here is why we descale with cool water from the walk-in and not water from the tap." As Gus tells the employee to do it again, the phone rings and Gus answers with the necessary "Pollos Hermanos, where something delicious is always cooking." It turns out to be a detective on the other line, and Gus leaves to go see what the police wish to question him about . Despite Gus's very convincing and persuasive story, Hank remains unconvinced. He asks Walt to drive him to a rock and mineral show, but instead directs Walt to the Los Pollos Hermanos parking lot. "Ready to get your mind blown?" Hank asks. Gus Fring is a major drug distributor, and to prove it, Hank wants Walt to plant a GPS tracker in the wheel-well of Gus's Volvo. While Hank gives Walt installation instructions, Mike pulls up beside Walt's car and stares him down . Walt, panicking, tries to dissuade Hank. "This is a mistake," says Walt. "Jesus, don't make me beg," Hank replies. Walt approaches the Volvo and drops to his knee, but doesn't plant the device. He then proceeds into Los Pollos Hermanos, where Gus greets him. "I didn't do it," says Walt, flashing the GPS device. "Do it," says Gus, evenly. Walt returns to the parking lot and this time plants the GPS tracker . Later, Walt drives Hank again to Los Pollos Hermanos. Though he's unaware Tyrus Kitt is tailing them, Hank senses Walt's anxiety and attempts to lighten the mood. Walt retrieves the GPS locator from Gus's car but refuses to enter the restaurant, much to Hank's annoyance. Back home, Hank curses when the GPS data reveals only trips that Gus made between home and one Los Pollos Hermanos location . Following the Cartel intimidation incident with the sniper - who turns out to be Gaff, the thug who delivered the Cartel's ultimatum earlier - Gus receives a call that night in his Los Pollos Hermanos office. "Tell them my answer is yes," he says in Spanish . Driving to another stakeout, Walt panics when Hank says they're going to the industrial laundry. Hank is connecting the dots between Los Pollos Hermanos, its parent company, the laundry, and Gus and Gale. To keep Hank from discovering how correct he is, Walt deliberately crashes into oncoming traffic instead of making a U-turn . Season 5 Disbandment Following Gus Fring's death, Hank visits Los Pollos and watches the police bag Gus's laptop and label it for evidence . Gus's restaurant chain collapsed along with his drug empire. At Madrigal Electromotive, executive Peter Schuler watches as the Los Pollos Hermanos logo is removed from the other companies comprising Madrigal's fast food division . File:Los Pollos Hermanos.jpg|Walt, outside a Los Pollos searching for Gus File:Mandala (6).jpg|Walt ordering food 3x01_-_Los_Pollos.png Los_Pollos_Hermanos.png Locations Known locations of Pollos restaurants as seen in the teaser of : * Alamogordo, NM * Albuquerque, NM * Brownfield, TX * Lubbock, TX The map Steve Gomez shows to Hank in would indicate that the other locations *may* be in or around: * Abilene, TX * Amarillo, NX * Carlsbad, NM * Colorado Springs, CO * Farmington, NM * Flagstaff, AZ * Las Cruces, NM * Farmington, NM * Odessa, TX * Phoenix, AZ * St. George, UT * Tucson, AZ Trivia *The Los Pollos Hermanos location in the show is filmed at 4257 Isleta Blvd. SW, Albuquerque, NM. *In reality, Los Pollos Hermanos is a a rebranded chain restaurant called "Twisters" that is local to Albuquerque. Twisters is a New Mexican influenced burrito and burger restaurant. *The Los Pollos Hermanos poultry farm where Gus runs the illicit side of his empire is, in real life, is 'Cal-Maine Foods' and is located at map reference 34°57'19.53"N 106°40'10.41"W *The Season 3 episode "Kafkaesque" has a TV commercial for Los Pollos Hermanos. The commercial's copyright says "Los Pollos Hermanos Inc. is a registered trademark of Madrigal Electromotive GmbH". *The voice used for the narration of the LPH commercial sounds uncannily like Ricardo Montalban. es:Los Pollos Hermanos Category:Locations Category:Companies